Budget 2017: 13 key announcements by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget in Parliament on Wednesday amid expectations of the announcement of populist policies post the November 8 demonetisation drive.

Presenting the Budget a month in advance from the usual, the Finance Minister said, "From favouritism to objectivity in decision making, from an informal to a formal economy, inflation in double figures has been controlled, we have launched a massive war against black money... The government is now seen as a trusted custodian of public money, I express gratitude to people for their strong support. Our government was elected amidst huge expectations of people, the underlying theme of expectations being good governance."

Finance Minister outlined three broad agendas for the government - transform, energise and clean India - for FY17. The FM said government's focus will be on ten themes including jobs, infrastructure, digitization and fiscal management.

13 key announcements in Finance Minister's Budget 2017.

Demonetisation

Arun Jaitley said demonetisation was a bold and decisive move to curb black money. He said that the pace of remonitisation has picked up and the impact of demonetisation will not spill over to next year. He said demonetisation's impact will only be short-term. The move was to create a new normal for a bigger, cleaner GDP and slowdown if any will be only transient.

Arun Jaitley has announced that there will be no cash transactions above 3 lakhs.

Manufacturing & Growth

FII has increased from Rs 1.07 lakh crore to Rs 1.45 lakh crore. India has become the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world. Government has ensured fiscal consolidation without cutting back on public investments.

India's Current Account Deficit decreased from about 1% of GDP last year to 0.3% of GDP in the first half of 2016-17. Growth in a number of emerging economies is expected to recover in 2017. India remains a bright spot in global economy, we are seen as an engine of global growth.

Agriculture

Jaitley said the government has set agriculture credit target at INR 10 lakh crore this year. The corpus for long-term irrigation fund under NABARD to be enhanced to Rs 40,000 cr versus Rs 20,000 cr. The government will also dedicate a micro-irrigation fund to be set up by NABARD to achieve goal of Per Drop More Crop, with an initial corpus of INR 5000 cr. With better monsoon, agriculture is expected to grow at 4.1%. Target for agricultural credit for 2017-18 is set at ten lakh crore.

Fasal Bima Yojana - 40% cropped area to be covered in 2017-18, 50% in 2018-19. A dedicated fund worth Rs 5,000 crore to be set up for micro-irrigation under Nabard.

Jaitley said the government aims to complete 1,00,00,000 houses by 2019 for houseless and those living in kaccha houses. In line with PM's vision of Affordable Housing for All by 2022, affordable housing will be given infrastructure status. Allocation for Pradhan Mantri Awaaz Yojana up from 15,000 cr to 23,000 cr.

Rural Economy

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }a:link { }Jaitley said allocation for schemes for rural India is pegged 24 per cent higher at over INR 1,87,000 cr mission to make 50,000 gram panchayats poverty free by 2019. Budget allocation to MGNREGA increased to a record Rs 48,000 crore for 2017-18, up from Rs 37,000 crore in 2016-17.

The government envisions 100 per cent village electrification to be achieved by May 1, 2018.

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Jobs

Jaitley said 100 India International Skill Centers will be developed across the country. The government plans to train 3.5 crore youth under the Sankalp program.

Health

Two AIIMS proposed in Jharkhand and Gujarat. Additional 5,000 post-graduate seats to improve availability of doctors. Action plan to eliminate kala azar and filariasis by 2017, leprosy by 2018, measles by 2020 and tuberculosis by 2025.

Education

Government will set up National Testing Agency to conduct all exams for higher education so that CBSE and AICTE can focus on academics. Colleges will be given autonomous status.

The government intends to launch Swayam, a platform with over 300 online courses to push virtual education.

Jaitley also announced the restructuring of University Grants Commission.

Digital India

Jaitley said Digi Gaon initiative will be launched to provide tele-medicine, education & skills through digital technology. 2,500 cr digital transactions are targeted in FY18. Aadhaar-enabled payment system to be launched shortly for those without debit cards, mobile phones.

Senior Citizens - Aadhar-based smart cards for health benefits

Railways

Jaitley said railways will integrate end to end transport solutions for selected commodities through partnership. Railway safety fund to be launched, corpus of 1 lakh cr over 5 years. New policy on Metro Rail to be introduced, will facilitate greater private investment. 3,500 km railway lines to be commissioned in 2017-18 as against 2,800 km in 2016-17.

The government has withdrawn service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC.

Infrastructure

Jaitley said total allocation for infrastructure sector to be over INR 3,96,000 cr.

Investments

The government plans to abolish Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau - a move widely welcomed by the industry. Reform to streamline foreign direct investments in India will be undertaken. The government has proposed to create an integrated public sector oil behemoth; could look at M&A of other PSUs also.

Personal TAX

No tax for people earning up to Rs 3 lakh.

Tax rate cut from 10% to 5% for people earning between 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh.